Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to office machines having a keyboard. In particular, the present invention relates to an adjustable support device that is positioned adjacent a front edge of a keyboard to help support a typist's hands at the keyboard. The keyboard can be of any type including a typewriter and a computer keyboard. The problem is that people working at keyboards are required to make many finger and hand movements over extended periods of time. If the typing is performed with the hands in an unsupported position, muscles in the wrists can become strained and fatigued, which puts pressure on the nerves leading to the hands and fingers. This can lead to a hand-debilitating injury known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
The adjustable wrist support device of the present invention is therefore a device that is useful for supporting a typist's hands at a keyboard to help prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other like typing related injuries and to also afford the typist a comfortable hand position at the keyboard. The wrist support device comprises a pair of spaced apart, block shaped support members, each having similarly shaped rectangular cross-sections along a longitudinal axis of the support blocks. A wrist rest member generally having an inverted U-shaped cross-section, is mounted between the support blocks along a rotation axis, which is parallel to the longitudinal axis. The upper, rest side of the wrist rest is preferably provided with padded material for added comfort. The off-center axis of rotation provides for adjusting the vertical height of the wrist rest above the keyboard table by positioning the two support blocks on the keyboard table on one of their correspondingly identical sides. That way, independent of which one of the identical sides is supported on the table, the rotation axis will either be above or below a horizontal plane through the longitudinal axis. This provides the wrist rest with a plurality of height elevations which are only limited by the number of identical sides comprising the support blocks. Tilt of the wrist rest is also adjustable in both forward and backward directions by rotating the wrist rest about the rotation axis. The desired tilt can be then locked in place by hand wheel means that thread against the support blocks to hold the tilt of the intermediate wrist rest in a compression-fit. Thus, the wrist support device of the present invention enables a typist to quickly and easily adjust both the vertical height and the tilt of the wrist rest to provide a comfortable hand position for typing.